Saturday, November 16, 2013

Lambies, Moon Rise and Deer

We finally picked up the hay feeders at Liz Vermuelen's farm over the hill in Columbus. These are fine, sturdy Premier feeders with wire panels and trays for the waste to fall into. These three feeders combined with the two Daryl P. built for me gives me plenty of room to distribute hay to the flock. Much improvement over past years. Can't quite figure out what took so long but here we are, moving forward. I loved seeing Liz's lambs from her Dorset/Finn sheep. If I don't find a ram I won't be having any of them come spring. A spring without lambs would be sad wouldn't it? A lovely young lady named Autumn, girlfriend of former student Loren Wildenstein, came over to help Matt stack wood in the silo room. It's a bit farther away from the door than I would like but it will be nice and dry as I carry it through the snow drifts. If it was up to me the wood would be stacked in the room adjacent to the apartment. There are advantages to living an alternative lifestyle. Spouse wants it out there. After picking up the feeders at Vermuelen's I went to buy rabbit food at Homestead in New Berlin to find they close at 1 on Saturday. Really???? Will have to travel over to Tractor Supply in Hamilton tomorrow, after I stop at Barb Taylor's Tack and Field to see what she has to offer for her big fall sale and perhaps do a little holiday shopping. I took the doggies up to the tippy top at sunset and was not disappointed. There it was - the biggest and brightest moon rise I've seen in a long time. The clearing at the top of the hill let me see the moon as it first peaked over the ridge. I walked back down slowly watching it through the bare trees on the piney ridge. The pink streaks of sunset were still visible in the western sky, along with a very, very bright solitary planet. I watched as the far off twinkly lights started turning on over in Edmeston and Cooperstown. The sheep did not want to come in and I don't blame them. This balmy weather won't last long. Hunting season has started and the absentee-land-owner neighbors are here. Not a happy time and I will be relieved when they go back to where they came from. Enough said. The sheep are in and locked up. I don't want them out at dawn tomorrow when the deer are moving. I sometimes have bucks hiding in my apple orchard. I hear them snorting out there and wish I could tell them to stay put as they are safe with me. They rarely listen.